


Caffeinated Skyline

by theblackhall



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Train Ride, yeoyan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:34:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblackhall/pseuds/theblackhall
Summary: “Are you going home?”“Yeah… Not too keen about it, but I’m heading home.”Yanan nodded in understanding, leaning forward as he too was on the window side of the seats. He grimaced at the sudden feeling of awkwardness due to their distance from one another, so he cleared his throat.“Hey, do you like coffee?” he asked, his eyes looking expectant. He felt his chest tighten, but exhaled the breath he held in when Changgu’s smile reached his eyes.“I really do. Shall we?”
Relationships: Yan An/Yeo Changgu | Yeo One
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Caffeinated Skyline

**Author's Note:**

> just a little soft yeoyan to feed the soul

The bickering of an old couple in a language he didn’t understand made Changgu sigh in frustration. Up until ten minutes prior, the journalist was enjoying his quiet, serene time, throwing his gaze out the window and taking in every scenery that his eyes fell upon. The railroad cut through cities and suburbs, and buildings of many different sizes and intricate designs blurred his vision.

But right then, Changgu couldn’t focus on a single puff of cloud in the cerulean sky. Word after word in a foreign language he couldn’t quite comprehend due to their heavy accent was thrown at one another by the old couple whose seats were two rows away from his. Changgu leaned his forehead onto the space between the large windows beside his seat and sighed once more.

_ That’s it _ , he thought.  _ I’m getting out of here. _

So Changgu got up from his seat, took his backpack off the compartment above it and made his way down the aisle of the coach. There was a labyrinth of empty seats for him to choose from, and he didn’t mind as long as he was far away from all the rambling.

He cursed himself for forgetting to bring his portable charger. His phone’s battery was dying, and he had to save it for when he arrived in Seoul to call a friend or even a cab to fetch him. The destination was still about three hours away, and he had to endure the white noise inside the train without music blasting in his ears.

While Changgu slowed down his walk from his previous seat to find another good spot, a man sitting a few meters away with a book in his hand looked up just in time to have their eyes lay on him.

Changgu sported a long, brown coat that fell just below his knees on top of a beige t-shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans. His footsteps were a tad bit heavy considering the boots he had on. He looked perfectly dressed for the cold autumn air, and when that man laid his eyes on him, it was like watching a saturated sunrise. A vintage filter fell upon the inside of the train, and the man felt it rude to stare too long, but he couldn’t help it.

After a few contemplations, Changgu finally decided to settle down on the seat by the window across the aisle from the other man. They both sat alone, the seats in front of them vacant save for their own luggage placed there instead of on the provided compartment.

As soon as Changgu sat down, he inhaled deeply with his eyes closed. He was bored out of his mind, and he was in no mood to write at the moment when everything felt so overwhelming. Usually he would take out his notebook and scribble random poems or narrations of the places he’d seen, but at that moment, his mind was blank.

“Old married couples, huh?” someone asked.

Changgu turned to face the man who was placing a bookmark in the middle of his novel and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” the man continued, “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just noticed that you moved seats because of all the ruckus happening over there.”

Changgu smiled, nodding. “Yep, I need my peace, you know? I don’t even know what they’re fighting about.”

“Well, if I heard correctly, they were arguing about the old man flirting with a younger girl back while buying coffee earlier and the wife wasn’t having it.”

“Wow, you speak German?” Changgu sat up straight, noticing the man’s own speech bearing a slightly foreign accent.

He nodded, “Yes, I do, but I’m not that fluent so maybe they’re just fighting over the coffee and I’m mistaken. Who knows?”

“Maybe, but I like the first story better,” Changgu’s smile grew wider, and the man found himself smiling right back. It was too contagious not to.

“Yanan,” he said, his eyes burning into the stranger’s. “My name’s Yanan.”

Changgu nodded at the name, confirming his thoughts that the man was a foreigner himself. It was quite refreshing, since he loved meeting new people from other parts of the world. That was one of the reasons why he wanted to become a journalist in the first place anyway. He wanted to visit the rest of the globe, and not stay rooted in the same land forever.

“Changgu,” he replied. “I’m Yeo Changgu.”

“It fits you,” Yanan said with a tone so soft it felt like feathers tickling the tip of Changgu’s nose red. “Are you going home?”

“Yeah… Not too keen about it, but I’m heading home.”

Yanan nodded in understanding, leaning forward as he too was on the window side of the seats. He grimaced at the sudden feeling of awkwardness due to their distance from one another, so he cleared his throat.

“Hey, do you like coffee?” he asked, his eyes looking expectant. He felt his chest tighten, but exhaled the breath he held in when Changgu’s smile reached his eyes.

“I really do. Shall we?”

***

“What made you become a journalist?” asked Yanan, one hand on the table while the other stirred his coffee lazily.

Changgu pressed his lips into a thin line after sipping his americano. The question seemed so easy to answer, but no word rolled off his tongue. He stared at the drink in front of him as if it bore all the words he couldn’t string together in his mind before focusing on Yanan once more. His hand inched forward, closer to Yanan’s.

“I always liked the idea of going places and writing about them,” he finally replied. Yanan listened to him intently, his eyebrows slightly furrowed together. “Ever since middle school, I liked to write down about literally anything. I had my language teachers give me random writing assignments and journal entries weekly just for the sake of polishing my writing. So… Here I am.”

“You don’t sound so happy about it now, though.”

“I know, it’s just—it’s just that I don’t feel as passionate about it now as much as I did before? I never thought my love for journaling would slip away bit by bit the longer I do it for work.”

Yanan chuckled, although it sounded more sad than ecstatic.

“Exactly my situation, I get you.” He peered up at Changgu, who looked at him with a tender look in his eyes as he waited for Yanan to continue. “I wanted to be a news anchor for as long as I could remember. Like, when I was little, I would take the newspaper after my dad finished reading it every morning and read it out loud to my grandma while she ate breakfast.”

“Really?” laughed Changgu. “With the voice and all?”

“Yes with the voice,” Yanan grinned at the sight of Changgu laughing before him. It was the first time he’d heard the man laugh after almost an hour of talking, and he liked the sound. Definitely like music to his ears. “It’s… nice to be a news anchor now, I guess. But the thrill I felt when I first started faded away after two years. Now delivering the news is just… my way of putting food on my own table.”

Nodding, Changgu took another sip of his americano and let the bitter taste take over his mind for a split second. He forgot the last time he’d talked to someone about these things, and it felt awfully good to speak his thoughts bit by bit.

The evening went on with the two of them glued to their seats by the window. There was nobody else in the cafe coach with them, and the cafe had long closed. Empty cups still reeked of strong coffee remained in the center of the table while the sky outside slowly turned orange; the clouds were tinted with pink and purple as the sun sank behind the buildings the closer they approached the city.

“No way,” Yanan laughed so hard his stomach hurt. Changgu mirrored his actions. “You  _ really _ used the money trick on your principal?”

“I did! I pulled the money with a white string little by little until the teacher found me around the corner and I got put into detention.”

“You’re  _ brave. _ I don’t even have the guts to pull an April Fool’s prank on my friends today let alone on my  _ principal _ at the age of 15.”

“My friends called me the ‘nice guy’ and it hurt my ego, you know? I wanted to prove to them that I can be the ‘bad boy’ in school too. What an idiot,” Changgu hid behind his hands, his ears reddening from embarrassment.

Yanan’s still laughing, but softer than before. He slowly leaned onto his elbows on the table and reached for Changgu’s hands with his before his mind could even process what he was doing. He felt Changgu’s warm hands under his as he pulled them back from covering his face. He chuckled when he saw the blush in the journalist’s cheeks.

“Okay, Mr Nice Guy,” cooed Yanan, still holding Changgu’s hands on the table, “tell me what you like to write about the most.”

Perhaps it was the warmth of his hands engulfed in Yanan’s larger ones, or the lingering smell of caffeine wafting in the air, but Changgu’s thoughts were at full capacity. Just as those words left Yanan’s mouth, the thoughts formed effortlessly in his head.

“People,” he answered. “It sounds vague, and cliché even, but as scary as human beings are, our little routines and actions could be so interesting to observe and discover. I could sit at the park and write five paragraphs about one single yellow flower but it’ll never be as interesting as trying to describe a person’s actions.”

“Show me,” Yanan suggested.

“Show you what?”

“Describe someone for me.”

“Oh, well…”

Changgu glanced at the empty booths around them, and his eyes met Yanan’s once more. He fumbled with their hands, tracing the taller man’s palms and lightly caressing his knuckles with his forefinger.

“This person, he has a thing for window seats, maybe because he would rather take in nature than the sight of other people, or simply because he needed good lighting for when he reads,” Changgu began, the words flowing like waves crashing onto the shore, his tone soft yet steady. “He reads Bleak House on a train, and I don’t know if it’s from the mere boredom of being on a six-hour train ride or simply because he’s been putting it off for too long he thought he could finish it by the time he arrives at his destination.”

Yanan scoffed, leaning back in his seat while Changgu played with his fingers. The corner of his lips tilted upward, their intertwined gaze lingering just a second longer before he lowered his eyes to focus on their hands.

“He actually wanted to read Wuthering Heights, but he brought the wrong book so he’s really thankful a kind stranger saved him from that preposterous mess,” Yanan said.

“That’s what I thought,” said Changgu as he glanced at Yanan through his lashes. “He puts two sugars in his coffee, and adds a single shot of espresso every single time he refills his cup. I wonder if he ever tries putting creamer in his coffee, though it seems highly unlikely for him.

“What makes you think that?”

“Someone who adds a shot for every single refill would never use a creamer in their coffee,” Changgu smiled knowingly, “unless they have a different preference than the typical coffee drinkers.”

“Okay, reason accepted. Tell me more,” Yanan placed his chin in his palm, eyes never leaving Changgu’s face as he took in the man’s every feature. His sleek eyebrows and ruffled hair, the smooth curve of his nose down to the pink of his lips.  _ Beautiful. _

“He’s humble when he speaks, always ready to listen to the other’s opinions before expressing his own. He never seems to negate himself, and he’s brave too, but not in a pranking-the-principal way.”

“What way is it then?”

Yanan was leaning forward, the small, rectangular table being the only object between their bodies. He could feel Changgu’s breath fanning his cupid’s bow, and his heart thumped rapidly in his chest, yearning for a touch he didn’t realize he wanted so much until then.

“He’s brave… in a way that he tells you he wants to kiss you just by holding your hand.”

Silence fell between them then, because Changgu was leaning forward too. The edge of the table slowly dug into his chest as he leaned his forehead onto Yanan’s, their smiles mirroring one another. The blush on their cheeks was the rosy shade of ripe peaches in winter, contrasting the darkening sky outside as the sun disappeared.

Soft and slow, Yanan let his lips brush against Changgu’s before finally capturing them. The smell of coffee mixed with the hint of cologne from Changgu’s neck tickled his nostrils while the latter held his face in his hands, his thumbs brushing Yanan’s cheekbones.

Three hours of different conversations had brought them to where they were—lips attached and fingers tangled in each other’s hair as the train began to slow down. Seoul’s skyline decorated the scenery outside, the sky invisible behind buildings and vehicles hustling on the roads.

The crackle of the intercom was heard through the speaker right above them, and they broke apart, foreheads still touching while their eyes remained shut.

“We are now approaching Seoul, the terminal station. All passengers are advised to remain seated until the train has fully halted, thank you.”

Yanan chuckled, the deep humming sending vibrations down Changgu’s chest. The smiles on their faces were different from the ones they wore when they first saw one another, and Changgu silently thanked the bickering couple for making him move seats.

***

They were picking up their bags and walking out of the train before they knew it. People of different ages began to pour out the doors in single file seconds after they opened, and Yanan let Changgu walk out before him.

On the platform, the crowd began dispersing in their own directions while the two remained static.

_ I don’t wanna leave _ , Changgu wanted to say, but nothing came out of his mouth. All he thought about was the way Yanan’s hands held his, and the feeling of his soft lips that left his own cold to the touch once broken apart.

“Thank you,” Yanan broke their silence. It was in no way awkward at all, but he knew that time was as fleeting as their memories, and he couldn’t waste a single second more.

“Thank  _ you _ ,” replied Changgu. “I hope you get to finish Bleak House before you start on Wuthering Heights.”

Yanan smiled, and Changgu never wanted to forget the way his eyes glinted under the white lights of the platform.

“I’ll definitely read several more chapters before going to bed tonight.” Yanan stared at his feet, kicking at nothing before glancing up to meet Changgu’s eyes. He felt the heat creep into his cheeks, “I hope you start writing again, regardless if it’s for work or not.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

And with that, Yanan broke away from hesitation as he took a step forward to give Changgu one last kiss. It was brief, but Changgu carved every second of it deep into his brain before Yanan’s lips left his.

“I’ll see you when I see you,” said Yanan, taking a few steps back.

“See you,” Changgu waved at the taller man.

Then the two of them turned around in opposite directions, and went back to their lives that were waiting for them, but this time with a spark that wasn’t there before.


End file.
